Industrial plants and power plants utilize water from nearby water sources for cooling purposes. Aquatic life (e.g., fish, fish eggs, larvae, zebra mussels, vegetation, etc.) in the surrounding water body is often negatively impacted by entrainment within the cooling system water intakes. Cooling systems are also negatively impacted by the entrainment of sediments and debris from the surrounding water body. Entrained contaminants within the cooling systems can result in system failures due to damaged components and costly shut-downs for frequent maintenance and/or repairs.
Floating barrier or containment/exclusion boom systems have been installed at these water intakes to deal with these problems. These boom systems are optimal for some situations, but the size of the system can be a problem when the boom system encroaches upon navigable waters. Thus, it would be desirable to produce an alternative filtration system which avoids this problem.
The large amount of water which has traditionally been diverted by industrial water users has had a significant, negative impact on the aquatic life in the surrounding body of water. The increase in temperature of the water diverted to the cooling system can, upon return to the body of water, raise the temperature of the water, possibly having negative effects upon aquatic life. Recent changes in federal regulations governing industrial water usage mandate a substantial reduction in the amount of water which can be diverted. This lower demand results in a lower flow rate. This decrease in flow rate leads to a decrease in the required amount of filtering area in containment/exclusion barrier systems. It would be advantageous, then, to have a filtering system which would function optimally with the federally mandated changes in water usage for industrial plants and power plants, while avoiding the other problems attendant with such usage. U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 20030089658 to Dreyer et al. (filed Nov. 4, 2002) discloses, inter alia, a filter canister for use in a fluid intake system. The filter canister includes a frame, a sheet of flexible fabric material that allows the flow of water therethrough, and a conduit. The sheet of flexible fabric material is connected to the frame in a manner defining an internal zone whereby substantially all fluid entering the internal zone from an opposite side of the sheet of flexible fabric material passes therethrough. The conduit has a first end located externally of the frame and a second end located within the internal zone defined by the sheet of flexible fabric material. Upon connection of the first end of the conduit to a fluid intake system, fluid is drawn through the sheet of flexible fabric material into the internal zone, thereby filtering the fluid, and filtered fluid is drawn through the second end of the conduit for delivery into the fluid intake system. In operation, however, intake fluid tends to flow non-uniformly through these filter canisters.
The present invention is directed toward overcoming these and other deficiencies.